Weekly Round-Up for 20 July 2014

Hawaii by Said the Whale. It was the song “Willow” that led me to checking out the Said the Whale website. I generally always look to see if there is an option to buy digital from the artist, on the assumption that they’ll get more money. Seeing the album Hawaii for sale on the site, I went to check out the tracks and realized that I’d enjoyed “I Love You” and “Mother” as well as “Willow.” I wish I could have purchased individual songs on the site, but given that I liked three of the songs, I dropped the money for the album. Support talent, right?

Knights of Sidonia. This anime is the general “misfit flying giant robot to fight aliens.” However, four episodes in, and it seems to have a little bit more beneath the surface than many. I am not a regular watcher of anime so perhaps this is the new standard for anime, in which case I might just end up watching a lot more. Attack on Titan is getting good buzz, and like Knights of Sidonia, it’s on Netflix, so that will likely be my next exploration into the genre.

Knights of Cydonia. Since their names are so similar, the anime led to thinking about the video to this Muse song. I couldn’t help but go check it out because it is just so campy and awesome. The execution was likely intentionally campy, taking inspiration from 70s B-movies, but the ideas and concept in this video are frankly awesome, and such a well of RPG inspiration. Speaking of which . . .

Weird West. I don’t think I’m the only one inspired by Knights of Cydonia. This is a very light, very cool little game that aims to hit that Western + Martial Arts + Weirdness vibe. It also comes with a mini-book format so that you can create your own pocket-version, which just adds to the awesome.